In the middle of September I went to the Netherlands for a couple of weeks to work on some projects. This was my first normal business trip since before Covid hit so it was really nice to meet the people again, work face to face, have a conversations over drinks and dinner and just get out of the country for a while.

The place where I work is in Brabant, close to the German border. As usual I stayed in Nijmegen, a lively city with a large student population. Nijmegen is situated on the river Waal (Rhine) and is supposed to be the oldest city in the Netherlands.

For the trip I took my XE4 and a selection of primes (16mmf1.4, 23mmf1.4, 35mmf2.0, 50mmf2.0 and 80mmf2.8). Not the lightest camera bag, and many lens changes, but good to try something different.

Scheveningen

Scheveningen is a seaside town close to the Hague. On a warm summer day the beach is probably packed with sun lovers but on this September evening there were only a few people there, doing their best to enjoy the last rays of summer. I drove there directly from the airport and managed to catch a couple of hours of photography as the sun was going down.

Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery

The Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery is located near Nijmegen on top of a hill overlooking Germany. The cemetery contains the graves of 2619 soldiers, most of them in their twenties. It is a beautifully solemn place, and, like other war memorials in the Netherlands, impeccably maintained by young Dutch volunteers. I was there all by myself on a foggy Saturday morning and was touched by the experience.

Street photography

The Dutch are a good subject for street photography, being affluent, colorfully dressed and very much determined to have a good time. The Dutch cities are great for walking around with a camera, having a good combination of old and new architecture, canals, bikers, walkers, tons of restaurants and no cars.

Rotterdam and Hook of Holland

Rotterdam is a modern city with wide open spaces, very much not the typical Dutch city. You could say the same of Eindhoven, but unlike it I’ve always enjoyed Rotterdam’s lively vibe and modern architecture. On the other side of the Maas is the massive Europoort industrial and shipping complex, which stretches from the city of Rotterdam to the Hook of Holland.

Hook of Holland is an interesting place. There’s a beach with restaurants and holiday homes and on the nearby Maas you can watch an endless stream of cargo ships coming and going.